Bike Hugger 

it seems to me that all the olympic officials are downplaying the air polution so that China can save face.  these games are already way more tense politically than say Sydney, so the olympic officials want everything to run smooth. 

but i think it’s stupid to try to talk the athletes out of wearing masks or portraying it as a political statement.  everyone knows that Beijing’s had air quality problems and if athletes think that wearing a mask might let them breathe better (even if it’s while resting/non-competition) then they’re gonna wear masks.  I mean, WADA and the IOC haven’t made masks illegal, have they?  What if they’re recreational masks, and not performance-enhancing masks?

on the other hand, maybe some athletes are trying to make some political statement about China… in which case the masks are dumb. you want to make a political statement in China, you should blare Beastie Boys and wear Free Tibet shirts… masks are stupid.

While I don’t think this particular act by members of the cycling team is a big deal, I cannot believe for a second that there was not a bit of a jab towards China in their actions. I didn’t know there was pollution inside a world class international airport terminal.

Here’s Spain’s national Olympic basketball team - http://tinyurl.com/5lpewp

This is just the beginning.

I live in L.A. CA and I just want to know where I can get a mask, if it does any good and is bearable.

Hell, they’re all taking Clenbuterol for “exercised induced asthma” anyway. That’s one of the loopholes of the drug testing system. It’s ludicrous that Sudafed is banned but prescription Clenbuterol is legal. Therefore, they all get their docs to write a Clen script.

Folks, the US Olympic Committee provided the athletes the masks, and then are surprised that they are wearing them?  It was not that long ago that everybody flying to and from China was wearing masks to help combat the SARS illness from spreading.  It really is not a horrible idea to try and protect their respiratory systems considering they just got off of a grueling flight and need to adjust to 12 hour clock cycle shift.

It’s not a horrible idea no, but not a smart one when you walk into a greeting line with reporters, cameras, and officials. Indicating how sensitive China is to the “whole air quality thing,: this story was front page news. I’m sure the USA Olympic team has had a talking to with athletes about the masks and didn’t like their arrival looking like this at all. The Chinese themselves where masks in the city—mostly for the dust than the permeating fuel smell.

I’m waiting for an athlete to wear a Free Tibet shirt or say something and see what the Chinese do. You know that’s coming.

Good for the athletes for wearing the masks. Air quality is a serious issue, especially for athletes, & with the amount of crap that China is pumping into the air that impacts the entire globe - who cares if they are offended by athletes taking measures to ensure their best performance. China should step up & take responsibility for their air quality on a broad scale.

Quoting the NYT article:
“The United States Olympic Committee had issued the specially designed masks to protect athletes from the potentially harmful air here. The U.S.O.C.’s lead exercise physiologist, Randy Wilber, had advised the athletes to wear the masks on the plane and as soon as they stepped foot here.”

Top cyclists are super paranoid when it comes to germs, pollution, etc. on the eve of competition… so if your top physio says to wear a mask “on the plane and as soon as they stepped foot here”, what do you expect? You know they’re all drinking bottled water only, and going through buckets of hand-sanitizer too.

Randy Wilber has probably issued new instructions to “remove mask when media is present during social events.” Whenever I’m in Asia, I survive on Ensure, energy bars, and bottled water, even brushing my teeth with bottled water. Think of it like this, if I came to visit your house and walked in wearing a mask cause I thought your house was dirty, you’d most likely be offended. That’s the issue right or wrong and it was remarkable that it was USA Cycling to cause the first controversy and a local cyclist.

Also, considered [Amanda Beard’s stunt](http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5izk8I2ri2j8xh4ItR15tRt8NTZRAD92CN47O0), I just don’t think the athletes should use the games for their special messages. It’s one thing to get taken out by security cause you’ve listened to the Beastie Boys your entire life and really believe in Tibet, and another to hold a press conferences to show a nude poster of yourself. That’s one big ego. As big as the track stars that paraded around, wrapped in the flag, and flashing USA number one. We’re just such an ugly country sometimes, we can’t help it.

Ugly country? China is roughing up reporters and restricting internet access. They are engaging in genocide in Tibet——and America is the ugly country? If America had any morals we would have boycotted these games.

I think the athletes should ALL take whatever stand they wish. I’d love to see Michael Phelps show up with “Free Tibet” on his skinsuit. China is a human rights abuser, animal abuser, world-class polluter, and has nuclear weapons targeted at us. Not a friendly country. Not an admirable country.

@Mike,

I appreciate what you’re saying. My experiences in China were of business and riding around, not Olympic or political. I didn’t show up there with an agenda or something to prove. I went to meet the people and experience it on my own terms without the media filters from either China or the US. And I learned a lot. I met a helpful, friendly, eager people that wanted to show me their city. The shots I have of the [birds nest](http://www.flickr.com/photos/huggerindustries/461239353/in/set-72157600081827572/) occurred because I was spontaneously invited behind the gates to see it for myself. I did not meet any government officials or discuss the Dalai Lama with them.

On being ugly, I think it goes without saying that the US has some issues with our perception and behavior abroad and that’s what I’m referring to. We can all be more humble I presume. I know I tried when I was in Beijing. Those people didn’t judge me by Bush and I didn’t judge them by their leaders.

The invitation to a friends house analogy doesn’t quite work for me. The athletes don’t have a say in where they’re going, and they weren’t invited, they were told where they’d be going.

Besides, if you invited me over to your house, but hadn’t swept up the glass on your floor, and then got mad at me for wearing my shoes inside, who’s to blame?

@ Jimmythefly,

I guess and yesterday the cyclists issued apologies.  Also see [Mike Friedman’s blog](http://www.mikefriedman.missingsaddle.com/2008/08/06/5-minute-world-wide-fire-works/)—one of the cyclists.